A 15-year-old New Zealand teenager was jailed for life yesterday for beating a Scottish tourist to death with a baseball bat.

Jahche Broughton was just 14 when he attacked Karen Aim in the North Island tourist centre of Taupo on January 17 last year.

Mr Broughton, who pleaded guilty to murder in a court in the city of Rotorua, was sentenced to remain in jail for 12-and-a-half years before he will be eligible for parole for the killing of the 27-year-old backpacker.

Ms Aim, who was from the Orkney Islands, was set upon in the early hours while returning to her flat from a night out with friends in the lakeside town.

She was found by police and taken to hospital, where she died soon after.

Mr Broughton was also sentenced to six years, to be served concurrently, for injuring a 17-year-old woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm - an attack that took place just two weeks before Ms Aim's murder.

Ms Aim's father Brian told the court Mr Broughton had destroyed his hopes for his daughter's life.

"I would have been so proud to take Karen down the aisle in her wedding dress," he said. "Because of Jahche's moment of madness I took her down the aisle in a coffin."

Later he told reporters that Mr Broughton needed help.

"If I go down the road of anger or revenge, that would only destroy my own life and I still do feel sorry for him," he said.